A time capsule of the greatest financial mania in the history of mankind, told in real-time by regular folks and patriots. May future generations better understand the madness of crowds, and how power and money corrupt.

October 25, 2007

How does this Adkins freak get on Faux? Is it the 70's hair? Is it the wild spin, disinformation and lies? How is this jerk an "expert"?

You'll also love Mike Norman, the "Economic Contrarian", who agreed with the REMAX hack that homes would soar 10% this year, and that there was no problem in the mortgage market. Whoops! That advice didn't sound very "contrarian" to me.

But hey, what do you expect from Faux Business. At least they had the sense to have Schiff on, who looks like a genius, especially when bookended against these two discredited goobers. It'd be great if they had all three back on, replayed this video, and had them comment. But that would be responsible journalism. Not gonna happen.

Watch the video, have a good laugh, then feel free to visit Adkins' website and send him a note or give him a ring. You can mock Mike Norman personally by visiting his website and contacting him here. Let us know what you had to tell 'em. Be nice.

39 comments:

I wonder, does Peter Schiff consort with Satan? Man he saw then exactly what's happenning now.

All kidding aside, Peter Schiff is the man. I highly recommend you put some of your savings into a Europac account (Peter's company - www.europac.net). My wife and I transferred 60k a few months ago and we're up 7% in gold, Yen and Euro. Not sure what that is against the devaluing dollar, but it's probably 15% or better. I don't work for Peter, just a friendly tip from a follow HP'er.

I can't believe Mike Norman is STILL arguing with Peter in a recent video. How is that guy still on TV? Oh yeah, it's faux news where this is their Ron Paul focus group that they think is more accurate than their national post-debate poll:

These clowns couldn't get a job in the Circus--and putting them next to Shiff for any kind of debate has the integrity of holding a debate between Briney Spears and Steven Hawking!!- It may sell tickets, but WHAT A JOKE!

FOX-I will never again underestimate the depths that you will sink to....YIKES

HousingPANIC, I see you're on the Euro Pacific Capital e-mail distribution list too.

Another video clip that Schiff sent out yesterday was from Fox News' "Cavuto on Business" that originally aired Aug 17, 2007. Peter says, "The exchange is amazing in view of what has just happened. See how I tried to explain to a panel of delusional 'experts' why earnings in the financial sector were about to turn into losses. Ben Stein even recommended Merrill Lynch as his favorite stock and lost his cool as I tried to enlighten him and Fox viewers regarding what was about to happen. You just have to see the exchange for yourself to believe it!"

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Sales of new U.S. homes unexpectedly rose in September after figures for previous months were revised down, maintaining concern the housing slump will restrain economic growth.

Purchases increased 4.8 percent to an annual rate of 770,000 that matched the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. August purchases were revised down to an 11-year low of 735,000, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.

Fox News and their Business programs are a joke. Either last Saturday or the previous Saturday, one of their regular commentators on the show hosted by Brenda somebodyorother, the guy known as "Gary B" said "housing has bottomed, the housing stocks are coming back up". Unbelievable. Does anyone watch those shows for anything other than entertainment value?

Nice link. My favorite part is at the end, as Norman and Adkins are scoffing at Schiff in this totally condescending way, like "how dare he think real estate can ever go down!?" Well, guess who was right.

Here's Mike Norman's reply in an email I sent him after seeing this HP link:

In 2005 I predicted a real estate correction, not in 2006. Last year prices rose 1.2 percent nationwide for your information; they did not "collapse" 40-50 percent as Schiff has been saying. More importantly, since 2002, when the dollar peaked against major currencies (and I was bearish on the dollar then), the U.S. economy has added nearly $4 trillion in output on a nominal basis and about $2 trillion in real terms (which means, adjusted for inflation). By the way, on that last point, Schiff has tried many times to say that the GDP numbers are "inflated." This exposes his lack of knowledge regarding how the data is reported.

Schiff's main point in all of this is that the US is a broke, bankrupt nation. He uses nonsensical arguments, like, "we only consume and don't produce." That is completely laughable. Schiff puts way too much emphasis on the $250 billion in goods we important from China, when in reality it is small compared to the overall size of our economy. It is also less than what we import from Canada and not that much more than we import from Mexico.

I can go on, but I won't. If you want to be "de-programmed" and escape the Schiff cult, I will be glad to help, but you must be open and allow the truth to enter your mind. If not, go on believing this misguided quack.Here are some other facts:

In 2002 S&P lowered Japan's sovereign debt rating to a notch above junk. The Nikkei Index was at 7000 at that time. It has more than doubled since then.

In 2005 S&P lowered GM's debt rating to junk when GM's stock was at 28, now it is 38 and has been as high as 42 recently.

Merrill Lynch made a $10 billion net profit last year ($71 billion gross profit). It can take this hit and still come out profitable, by a wide margin.

Finally, the foreign exchange value of the dollar is meaningless unless you are an American taking a trip to Paris or some other country where the local currency is more than the dollar. You will be paying more. However, for domestic purchases there is no effect felt or a marginal one at best. More important, consumption by foreigners in the U.S. keeps economic activity supported to a degree that otherwise would not have been the case if the dollar were very strong. Nowhere is that more apparent than here in New York.Cheers!

I liked the kinda hysteric laugh at the end. Like "What the hell, this guy makes sense. But goddamn it I'm not gonna believe him, since it would mean I gotta get another job.". I'd like to hear how he laughs now...

I'm not on Euro's email list - did Schiff send this video out? I just remembered that long haired jackass being so cocky and searched for the video today, and cracked up when I replayed it

As to the email from Mike Norman - why won't people simply admit when they're wrong? And no, Schiff didn't say houses would fall 50% THIS YEAR, and yes, the dollar's downfall kills you if you hold or earn dollars whether you're in the US or in Europe.

That guy is a discredited tool. Anyone who listens to him gets what they deserve.

"No photo available" on Adkins website! L-O-S-E-RThanks for the laugh today, Keith!I would love to see a thread with a list of housing bubble "Pompous Prognosticators". In fact, such a list should be part of the U.S. housing bubble wikipedia entry.

I think people will move more-and-more to support (and use) the Craigslist.com and/or ChoiceA.com to market their homes. I think there's an underlying trend and emphasis to avoid realtors,...they did it to themselves.

That early Geico caveman with gel is just another disinformation agent, hired by Faux, who makes a living by kissing GOP butt. Don't we feel like punching that idiot everytime he shows up on the screen?

Those videos from FOX showed unbelievable arrogance on the parts of Adkins, Norman and Stein. It's as if they were thinking: "I am right, all other possibilities are completely wrong and thus, anybody who disagrees with me is stupid."

They won't even consider other possibilities. Arrogance will sink them and all the other cocky people in the investment field, who think that just because they have made a lot of money, they are better and smarter than everybody else. It's so obvious to me, it's scary. Although Peter Schiff, myself and the people who fellow HPers could all be wrong. At least I consider other possibilities.

My goodness! Mike Norman never lets Peter Schiff talk. I have noticed this in other videos. Mike is really a putz. If I had money to invest and Mike showed up at my door, he would be fired before the doorbell finished making noise.

As for Fabio, well lets just say him and Mike make a cute couple.

Peter is dead on and I do value his opinion tremendously. Frankly, when Peter speaks, I listen.

I'm at work so I can't watch this video but I believe I remember it from when it was first made. I saw it here or on some other good blog that you recommend.

I love that Schiff is a hated man. And that he so right.

These guys remind me of the sports commentators arguing and trash-talking about what player is the best, what team is the best, what play was the best, etc. It's fun to watch the argue when it's about sports because in the end it's meaningless and games have definitive outcomes so you can see who was right on most issues.

But these guys are talking about our economy, our standard of living, our lives. It should not be trivialized by their inane argumentative banter.

I once watched an entire 1/2 hour of Fox news and afterwards realized that I was literally and quantifiably dumber. I never did it again.

Here was Mike's response to an e-mail I sent him back in August--no kidding:You're a total f***ing moron and the kind of a**hole that threatens the long-term greatness of America. Keep following schiff and enjoy your brief moments away from your miserable life you scumbag.

What was that you were saying about a 10% move in 2007? Well you were right. I live in Tampa and guess what the front page of the Tampa Tribune said today - prices are DOWN 10% from September of 2006. DOWN Mike - DOWN DOWN DOWN. You did get the percentage right, but you completely f*#ked up on the direction, jackass.

Check this out Mike buddy:

From the Tampa Tribune:

"The median sales price of existing, single-family homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area in September fell 10 percent to $200,700 compared with the same month last year, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

The price drop compared with August was even more dramatic: down nearly $14,000 or 6.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of homes sold plummeted 40 percent in September to 1,691, compared with the same month last year when 2,803 were sold." END

Didn't the AP report today that the national sales of new homes rebounded 4.8 % in September??? All I can say is, "Really???". Do you think that number might be revised downward next month just like the July and August numbers were (rhetorical question)? And by the way, after the real August numbers came out, August new home sales were much worse than originally reported, the worst in 11 years. September was NOT a better month, I don't care what those government idiots said today.

I have a feeling that the s*&t is about to hit the fan here in Tampa, finally. We've been lagging the rest of the country up until just recently. So this is just the beginning for us. The Tribune also went on to say that prices need to, and will, drop much farther. It said that owners here (in Tampa) are just waking up to the fact that they have to lower their prices dramatically if they expect to sell. Duh (that was my comment).

Well Mr Mike Norman, there just aren't adequate words to describe how much of a moron you are. I hope you're not passing your genes on to anyone. God help us.

I saw that video before. Charles, like his friend Mike Norman, is a member of team putz. I did remember when Pete said that financials are toxic. It turns out he was right. What's funny is that Merrill Lynch (MER) was one of the topics of selection by Ben. He said the company is run very well. Thats may be true, but MER is shaping up to report the most significant loss in the industry.